Trolley-head.



No. 725,618. PATENTED APR.'14, 1903. S. FIERBAUGH.

TROLLEY HEAD.

APPLIOA TION IILED DEC. 6, 1902.

30 MODEL.

WITNESSES //v VEIVTOR v Jam we? ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL FIERBAUGH, OF HUNTINGTON, WEST VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR OF NINE-TWENTIETHS TO L. V. WVAUGH, OF HUNTINGTON, WEST VIRGINIA.

TROLLEY-H EAD.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 725,618, dated April14,1903. Application filed December 6,1902. $erial No. 134,108. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it n'tay concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL FIERBAUGH, residing at Huntington, in thecounty of Cabell and Stateof West Virginia, have invented a new andImproved Trolley-Head, of which the following is'a specification.

My invention seeks to provide an improved construction of trolleyforoverhead electricrailway systems, the primary object of which is toproduce a simple, cheap, and effective means for sustaining thetrolley-fork without the aid of springs or other cushioning devices andin which the said fork is automatically adjustable to maintain thetrolleywheel in a proper alinement orcontact with the wire conductorunder the varying conditions of the said conductor or 'wire; and tothese ends my invention consists in the peculiar construction and novelcombinations of parts. hereinafter described in detail and specificallypointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of atrolleyhead embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof,the trolley-fork being shown turned at an"angle and slightly elevatedfrom the lower normal position. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4. is a horizontal section on the line 4. 4 of Fig.2, and Fig. 5 is a similar view on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2.

In the ordinary construction of trolley pole and wheel head it is commonto mount the' trolley-head in the end of the pole-socket for.

vertical adjustment under spring action, whereby to causethetrolley-head to rise up to keep the wheel in proper contact with thetrolley wire under its varied conditions. Trolley -heads have also beenprovided in which the Wheel-carrier is rotatably mounted within thehead-socket and said carrier and socket provided with opposing cam-likemembers, whereby as the trolley-wheel carrier is axiallysecured it willbe causedto rise vertically whereby to produce a more perfect contact ofthe wheel with the wire in round ing curves and-whereby when loweredinto longitudinal alinement with the car to assume a depressed position.Trolley heads constructed on the lines indicated, so far as are known,have not met all the requirements desiredgas the cost of manufacture andmaintenance has been excessive, and by reason of necessity of carefuladj ustme nt of the several parts their use has not been found topossess the required degree of effectiveness and positiveness ofoperation.

My invention belongsto that type of trolley-heads-in which opposingcam-like surfaces of the trolley-wheel holder or fork and the socket areprovided and'in which the peculiar arrangement of said opposing surfaceslies the essentials of my invention.

In my construction the trolley-pole A may be tubular in its length orhave its upper end provided with a tubular socket a, in which is fittedfor freely sliding therein the shank b of the wheel holder or fork B,said fork and the socket forming the trolley-head. The wheel 0 is of theusual construction and is journaled in the upper endof the fork in any.approved manner. The socket A at a suitable point below the upper endhas a pair of diametrically oppositely disposed apertures a a and theupper end a has a pair of oppositely-disposed radical V-shapeddepressions a a in vertical alinement with the apertures a a as clearlyshown in the drawings and for reasons presently explained.

The wheel-holderB has'a pair of oppositelydisposed lateral studs ormembers I) b at a point near the lower end thereof and a similar pair ofbearing-studs b b near the forked upper end, and the said studs 19 b arearranged in the same vertical alinement and project 'at right angles tothe axis of the trolley-wheel O. The studs 79 1) project into theapertures a a of the socket A and have lateral and vertical playtherein. The studs or bearings b b are provided to engage and cooperatewith the V-shaped seats or cam-bearings in the upper end of the socket,and the two sets of studs b b? are spaced apart relatively to each otherand the seats a and apertures a", that when the holder B is at itslowermost adjustment the studs b bear solidly in the apex or bottom ofthe seats a. The studs b bear on the bottom edges of the apertures a andthereby provide two distinct contacting surfaces between the holder Band the socket, thus distributing the downward strain on thetrolley-wheel holder to the upper and lower ends of the shank of theholder and providing a more solid and firm bearing for the holder thanis possible with but one contact or hearing point between the holder andthe socket. It will be noticed the diameter of the apertures a and thedistance between the extreme ends of the diverging walls of the seats aare the same, such correlative arrangement of said parts being providedto efiect a positivelimitation of the rotary movement of theholder-shank in the socket in either direction and prevent the studs 12from rising entirely out of the seats a So far as described it isevident the peculiar arrangement of the fork, with its lateral studs,the socket, with its cam-seats a and its apertures a,will admit of theWheel-holder rotating freely and sufficiently, so that the wheel C canaccommodate itself to the ordinary varying curves of the conductor-Wire,

so that the groove or peripheral bearing of the trolley-wheel will besustained in a proper contact with the trolley-Wire and the danger ofits leaving said wire reduced to the minimum, and by reason of thepeculiar construction ofthe holder, with its lateral studs, thepole-socket, with its seats a andapertures a the tension of thetrolley-head against the trolley-wire will increase in proportion to theturn of the wheel 0 to accommodate itself to the curve of thetrolley-Wire, it being obvious that if the curvature is slight thetrolleyholder will be slightly elevated from its lower or normalposition, and if considerable it will be further elevated until its lugs19 b reach the upper ends of the inclines of the V-shaped bearings awhen further elevation of the member B and rotary movement thereof areprevented by the contact of the studs b b with the side edges of theapertures a a It will be understood that in practice the opposingbearing-surfaces of the socket A and the studs 6 b may be case-hardenedor otherwise constructed to prevent Wear and undue friction.

I am aware that a trolley-head including a socket member having acam-formed slot and a wheel-holding shank for engaging the socket havinga stud for fitting the slot is old; but such type of trolley-head doesnot provide for a rigid contact or bearing of the wheel-holder and thesocket, as the entire strain is on the single stud, and the neck of theshank portion of the holder is under said construction subjected to atorsional or twist strain to such extent that the wheel-holding endfrequently snaps or breaks ofi at the said neck. In my construction thisdanger of breaking off is overcome, as the bearing strain produced bythe down pressure of the trolley-wire is divided and is partly at theneck and partly at the lower end of the wheel-holder shank, and the saidneck portion is held in a rigid hearing contact irrespective of thevertical adjustments of the holder incident in the lowering of theholder in the socket when force is applied during passing over curves.

To assist in holding the member B, with the trolley-wheel C, in itsnormal position, as shown in Fig. 3, I may apply a retractile spring 0,fastened to the socket A at c and to the shank b of the wheel holder orforkB in any approved manner, it being understood that in fastening thespring in the manner shown in Figs. 2 and 3 the spring is of sufficientlength to allow of it being stretched out sufficiently to permit of itsbeing fastened to the socket A and then pulled out and fastened to theshank Z) before the shank b is inserted in the socket, or I may firstfasten a spring to the shank b and then pass a pin (not shown) throughthe socket A and over the first coil of the spring to hold same inposition.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patcut, is

1. A trolley-head, comprising a socket, a trolley-Wheel hold er having ashank rotatable and vertically shiftable in said socket, said shank andsocket having shiftable opposing hearing or contacting surfaces, one setof said surfaces being at the upper edge of the socket and the other setat a point below the said upper edge, and disposed in a plane at rightangles to trolley-wheel axis, as set forth.

2. A trolley-head, comprising a socket having a pair ofoppositely-disposed apertures, a wheel-holder having a shank providedwith oppositely-projecting bearing-studs adapted to project into theapertures and freely movable therein and a second pair ofoppositely-projected studs on said holder arranged to engage and ride atthe upper edge of the socket, substantially as shown and for thepurposes described.

3. A trolley-head, comprising in combination; a socket havinga pair ofdiametrically, oppositely disposed apertures, having a pair of V-shapedcam-seats in its upper edges, said seats being in vertical alinementwith the apertures, of a forked holder having a pendent shank, atrolley-Wheel jonrnaled in the fork thereof, saidshank having a pair ofoppositely-disposed lateral studs 1) b adapted to extend into and'havefree lateral and vertical movement in the socket-apertures, and a secondpainof studs 19 adapted to engage with the V-shaped cam-seats in thesocket, said studs 12 ,19 being projected from the shank at right anglesto the axis of the trolley- Wheel, all being arranged substantially asshown and for the purposes described.

SAMUEL FIERBAUGH.

Vvitnesses:

J. S. DAVIS, C. A. WALL.

